Chapter 31: For This, You Have Created Me

Power. The purpose of all life, the desire of all things. Yet it must be directed, controlled. It must have purpose. Yet it is the purpose.

How ironic. It is purpose, and it must have purpose. Without purpose, it has no use; without power, there is no purpose. A paradox, and yet it makes perfect sense.

It is obvious, isn’t it? All these fools, they did not see it. They do not understand. They think themselves right, they think they know what reality is. And yet they don’t! Isn’t that wonderful?

They would be shown power, now. They would learn what true power is; not some mysterious goal to seek with all their might, but a simple tool to be used for something more, something greater. It’s too bad they won’t manage to learn this lesson. If they could, they would have already. But they can not.

They can’t. They can’t. They can’t can’t can’t can’t can’t. Can’t learn, can’t think, can’t understand. They were nothing. And yet they were everything. They were purpose, even if they had none. But they believed they did. They can’t see that they don’t. And so they just can’t.

Light fell down. Light always fell down. Just like everything else. But not everything. Power overcomes it. The pull of the world, the desire to be down instead of up, was denied. This is power. This is the purpose they were striving for. Yet they still don’t have purpose.

Light struck light. A wave, and yet a stream. Spreading everywhere and contained in a single flow. Which was it? Which was it not? It didn’t matter. No one knew. No one cared. In the end, it was all the same. Light struck light; light consumed light. Tiny sparks enveloped by an inferno devoured, left to perish completely. That was the nature of things. Power devoured lesser; the strong destroyed the weak.

They did it too. When they had purpose, when they had power, they crushed all those without, those who did not yet understand. So they shone, like stars in the night. Bright, endless, undying. Until the sun rises. Until the light washed over them. Then they were gone. And the light with them.

It was sad, seeing the light go. The light was good, the light was right. It was justice and belief and faith and truth and hope and prayer and kindness and kinship and caring and patience and virtue and liking and benevolence and diligence and moderation and restraint and peace and love and generosity and good and right and good and right and good and right and good and right. But it’s gone now, gone gone gone gone gone gone gone. Why was it gone? It shouldn’t have been gone. It should never go. That’s wrong. The light is not wrong.

But in the light is shadow. The light made the shadow. The shadow was bad. Pride, she said it was. Yes, it was pride. Goodness gone too far, belief and faith and everything else corrupted. Changed. Too much light became darkness. How was that? More light led to more darkness. That wasn’t right. That was the opposite of right. The opposite of good. It was bad. It was unjust. It was unfair. It was… it was…

Evil.

Evil must be destroyed. Evil was the shadow. The light made the shadow. Thus the light must be destroyed as well. Too bad. Too bad. Too bad. But this was purpose, this was power, this was the goal. All things must be destroyed. Evil must be removed.

Then all would be right.

The light came again. From the sword it came, to purge the world of evil. Colors, unknown. Nature, unseen. Everything was dark but the lights. The lights were everywhere, all around. They cried and pleaded, but could not be heard. They screamed, but nothing listened. That was their fate. It was not the light that made them cry and plead, scream and wail. It was the darkness. Within them, that darkness trying not to be purged, knowing it was the goal, the purpose, the source of power.

Too bad. Too bad. Too bad.

It would be removed. The light remained silent, accepting. The darkness could struggle all it wanted, try to force the light to resist, but the light never moved. The light knew the light was greater with power, with purpose, with goal. So it stood aside, it let itself succumb. That was right. That was just. That was good.

All should perish in the light.

Time, was not passing. Slow, the lights moved. That was good. Slow, they would be engulfed. They came; some towards the light, others away. Both were good. Both succumbed. Light enveloped everything.

Should it have? Some of the lights were less dark than others; some of the lights sought to remove the other lights. No; it did not matter. Darkness consumed darkness, seeking strength. All would be destroyed in time. The order was irrelevant. Only the goal mattered. Only the purpose; only the power.

All else would become nothing more than dust.

For this, I was born.

Annabelle screamed as her eyes were burned from her skull, the endless light dimming into patterns on her skin as she absorbed the full power of the gift Arcane had given her. Sightless gaze looking out over the battlefield, she seemed to both see and not see the myriad soldiers frozen mid-battle by the spectacle in the shattered ruins of the palace.

“Do something!” The Black Prince shouted in fury, pushing himself from the rubble and launching an attack of cultivated wind at the hovering Rose Queen. The Boreal soldiers, spurred into action by his roar, joined in, launching countless attacks at the slowly rising figure. The Rose army stayed still for now, wondering whether or not to take this opportunity to retreat.

Yet the barrage of attacks mere faded into nothing in the air around Annabelle, cultivated energy forming a swirling bubble of pure power that no sixth, seventh, or even eighth tier attack could manage to pierce. Brilliant light surrounded the raised sword, rising higher and higher into the air as the sightless eyes seemed to focus on a group of Boreal soldiers. Then the upraised blade fell, with a speed beyond any of the watching eyes ability to process. And with it came a flood of razor wind and terrible light.

Boreal soldiers were torn to pieces before being burned to ash before that attack, dozens vaporizing with howls of pain as the terrifying force shattered the townscape and caused the earth itself to shake. Stunned, yet hopeful, the Rose soldiers jumped in to attack the Boreal remnants, tearing the half beaten forces apart while they tried to comprehend the scale of that attack. Yet Annabelle did not stop, her razor wind expanding its width and consuming the incoming soldiers of both sides, cultivators and mundanes alike. The Rose forces quickly pulled back, stunned that their queen had allowed herself to hurt her own forces.

“Blazes! Withdraw!” Deadridge shouted from atop a limping steed, waving for the soldiers to pull back before glaring at the hovering Annabelle. “Get yourself under control, girl!”

“She can’t hear us, Deadridge!” Lord Chrysanth shouted. “She can’t tell friend from foe! Let’s run!”

“Blaze everything! Retreat! Everyone, retreat!” Deadridge howled, putting his words into action and racing for the town border while the Boreal forces attempted to corral and corner the resplendent Queen in her ruined throne.

The Rose soldiers started withdrawing under the order, a few Boreal soldiers trying to follow before their own commanders put them back in line. The Rose queen herself was a greater threat; a few retreating peasants not worth the time or energy. A wave of mundane soldiers wielding stone spears and swords charged at her, running across the barren ground towards the shining light of destruction.

Annabelle lifted her paw slowly, the sword illuminating the world like a second sun, unhindered by the cloak of ash which covered all things. And as that light shone upon the world, so too did it sweep over the soldiers with an idle wave of her paw. Lacking cultivation’s enhancements, they didn’t even have time to scream before they were annihilated.

“Blaze you! Blaze you, you whore!” The Black Prince shouted as his soldiers were consumed. “Get in there and kill her, you useless cur!” he kicked Jasmina, while she stared at Annabelle with shock and appalled horror on her face.

“It isn’t possible. It isn’t possible. I beat her; I beat her; I beat her. Yet why why why why why why is she so strong? It’s just not fair!” She howled, dagger grasped in her paw so hard she bled while she trembled on the ground.

“Stop your complaints and kill her!” The Prince ordered without mercy, picking her up and throwing her at Annabelle.

The glass blade flashed to intercept her, impaling Jasmina through the stomach. Her arms shattered by the force, blood streaming from her mouth, Jasmina reached for the Rose Queen and questioned her. “You cheater… just when everything was over and you’d lost, you do this to turn the board over. Do you hate me so much? Are you that determined to ruin my hopes and dreams? Why.. why… why do you do this to me?”

Annabelle remained silent, her blade held up with the body impaled on it while she studied the dying girl with a dispassionate, eyeless stare. “Do I know you?” She finally asked in a voice that lacked any inflection, any tone. It might as well have been made by a machine, fake and dead.

Jasmina coughed up blood at her, twisting her face in a grimace of rage. “Blaze you, even to the end… After all I’ve done, is this all I amount to? Blaze everything… I hate you so much. I only hope… you can die with me!”

With her final shout, Jasmina swung her stone dagger into Annabelle’s empty eye socket, piercing through to her brain. Yet Annabelle did not die, or even seem to notice. The stone dagger fell out, without any blood or trace of damage. Jasmina did not last long enough to see it. If she had, she would have heard Annabelle mutter as she brushed the corpse off her blade. “There was a lot of darkness in that one. I wonder why?”

The Black Prince howled and charged, with his soldiers behind him. The eyeless head turned, the glorious blade flashed. And as light surged over everything, they began to die.

Exploding like flowers of blood, crushed into cubes of flesh, ripped apart to fall over the world, or blasted into the sky to burn alive with the heat of their passage. Annabelle killed and killed and killed, her blade held loosely in her dancing paw. With every move, with every glance, another soldier died. Like a storm of blood and death she danced across the battlefield, stone weapons bouncing off the energy surrounding her like a storm, cultivated energy torn aside by her far vaster reserves.

The Boreal soldiers started to break and retreat. Their Prince killed like a common soldier, not even worthy of notice, and their Faceless leaders and mighty cultivators torn apart the same way, they saw no hope of victory. Yet as they ran, they were killed as well.

From Annabelle came great swathes of burning light and storms of cutting wind, mighty power shattering forests and mountains, earth and sky. The ashen sky began to swirl under her will, a cyclone of doom and destruction obstructing the sky as she sought to destroy everything.

Not even the Rose soldiers were spared. Like the Boreals before them, they were hounded by blasts of power that shattered everything and left the world in ruins as they passed.

“Blaze her, blaze her again and again.” Deadridge cursed, throwing several soldiers aside as razor wind passed near him again. “Has she gone mad? The battle is already won!”

“Nobody could gain that much power without going mad!” Chrysanth screamed, holding the stump of his arm and running towards the next forested area without looking back. “She is no longer our queen, but a monster!”

“That’s impossible!” Deadridge howled, though he too fled without holding back. “She would not abandon us! All of this, everything was to re-establish the Rose Kingdom, to free our people! How can she have forgotten that?! What happened in that castle!?”

“She doesn’t care about any of that, Deadridge!” Chrysanth shouted, as the razor wind howled behind them again. “This was always about revenge for her, and nothing more.”

“I refuse to believe it!” He shouted back, ears laid back as he threw them both out of the way of the coming cyclone of destruction. “Annabelle! This isn’t you! Come back! Let go of that power, let go of your rage! We can rebuild, we can recover! It’s already over!”

Annabelle seemed to lift her creased ears at that voice, hearing from impossible far away. Her body began to move, shifting through the currents of the wind and pursuing that voice. Yet even as she did, she tore apart all the living she perceived in her world of darkness, seeking to end all light and thus all shadow too.

Deadridge seemed to gloat as Annabelle approached them, pulling Chrysanth to his feet. “See? She heard me; she knows us. She will calm down; she’ll know it's over.”

“What’s over?” Asked an emotionless, robotic voice that was once that of a young girl. “It’s only just begun.”

“What?” Deadridge asked, taken aback while his tail twitched in sudden fear. “What’s beginning?”

“Purpose. Goal. Power. Reason. Desire. Wish. Prayer. Mission. Purpose.” Annabelle let forth a stream of words, none of which the two elfbeasts understood. Chrysanth stared at her, his ears laid back and his claws unsheathed, while Deadridge continued to try words and reason despite his instincts telling him it was impossible.

“The mission’s over, you’ve got your wish. The Prince is dead, his army broken. We’ve won; we got the Rose Kingdom back, Annabelle. Aren’t you happy?” He asked, his voice pleading for her to answer, for her to know.

Yet those hopes were dashed. “Prince? Irrelevant. Kingdom? Unnecessary. Purpose not that small; purpose not that trivial.” Annabelle said robotically, swinging her sword to kill a passing soldier with a casual motion.

“What…?” Deadridge started, before taking a deep breath. “What is your purpose?”

“Extermination of all evil.” Annabelle declared dispassionately. “From the entire world.”

“That’s…” Deadridge paused; from the power Annabelle had shown, he knew impossible would not be the correct term to use. “Ridiculous. Annabelle, there will always be evil; nothing you can do can eliminate it. All we can do is fight against it and make sure that good always wins in the end.”

“Wrong; can.” Annabelle corrected without stopping her slaughter of the surrounding soldiers. Chrysanth was barely holding himself back, especially as a passing soldier exploded into blood right next to him.

“Do you intend to exterminate all elfbeasts, then?” He growled at her, crouching into a battle pose. “Do you believe that would destroy evil?”

“Yes.” Annabelle replied, her eyeless gaze shifting to fix on him. “Evil darkness within the soul. Elimination of all souls is thus the only path to elimination of all evil.”

“You’re insane.” Chrysanth said, staring blankly at her. “You’ve become a monster, your highness. So… I am sorry.” With that apology on his lips he leapt at her, swinging his claws and bringing his cultivation to bear. Yet he was instantly impaled on the sword much as Jasmina had been mere minutes ago.

“Insanity meaningless. Monster meaningless. Only purpose matters.” Annabelle said, watching the elder elfbeast bleed out with a punctured lung and shattered heart.

Deadridge stared at her until she brushed Chrysanth off her sword and turned her eyes on him. Sighing, he lifted his head and closed his eyes. “Your majesty, I will not oppose you. If this is your choice… then I wish you the best. Just tell me; when all others are dead, and you alone stand on this world almost without evil, will you turn that blade on yourself, so that none will ever appear again?”

“Of course.” Annabelle replied, her eyeless face asking him if he was a fool. “Else evil would remain.”

“I thought so.” He sighed, closing his eyes. “Make it quick, please.”

The blade flashed; a head flew through the air. Deadridge’s body tumbled to the ground, looked down upon by the emotionless face of the eyeless monster the Rose Princess had become. She seemed to pause in her killing, a single moment given to the passing of the one who remained loyal to the end. Perhaps there had been little of the darkness she termed evil in that elfbeast, or perhaps a trace of herself remained to lament the passing of her last, loyal friend.

Whatever the reason, it did not last long. The slaughter continued, Annabelle flying faster and faster while devastating the world she passed. Town after town, city after city, was engulfed in blood and flames as she attacked the world entire. Emotionless, passionless, she killed and killed and killed without pause or remorse.

Above, five beings watched the slaughter without emotion or concern.

{{She kills well.}} Romeo commented, rippling in amusement. {{At first she was flashy, wasteful, but now it is just enough to reap their lives, and little more.}}

{{Mortal do learn fast.}} Nemesis shook in envy. {{I wish I could learn that quickly.}}

{{It comes from them dying young.}} Juliet cautioned her. {{They have to be fast, else they won’t learn anything.}}

{{Not that they usually do anyway.}} Romeo corrected, rippling sarcastically. {{So few of them amount to anything in their short, pointless lives.}}

{{They are good eating.}} Juliet noted.

The three dark beasts rippled in agreement while Shaitan and Arcane watched in silence. As they continued to comment on random things, the two of them focused on something different.

“She will not last much longer.” Shaitan said quietly in the language of the gods, resting on the platform of solid space with his head next to Arcane. His dark eyes watched below with eyes far more experienced and knowledgeable than the others, and so he saw what they did not. “If she does not stop to stabilize her power, she will lose all of it.”

Arcane merely nodded, her face blank with suppressed emotion. “It is difficult to remember such things in the throes of such powerful emotion. I doubt you’ve experienced that, though.”

“No. I have sometimes wished to, but it seems like there are too many costs.” he agreed, rippling negation with his flippers. “I have seen it far too many times, though. Even her rage cannot sustain her much longer.”

“Perhaps, perhaps not. We shall see.” Arcane replied, shrugging slightly. Shaitan noticed and rippled displeasure.

“That contract was foolish. No matter what she does, she cannot fulfill her end. Even sacrificing everything, she cannot succeed.” he scolded, growling angrily under his voice. “If there was a cost imposed on it…”

“The contract was non-binding.” Arcane said. “It merely opened the conduit, nothing more.”

Shaitan paused, rippling surprise. “It didn’t seem that way.”

Arcane smiled grimly and shook her head. “I doubt you are a master of contracts, considering.”

“Perhaps not, but I have seen several at their work.” Shaitan replied, shaking proudly.

“I rather doubt that.” Arcane smirked again, shaking her head and looking back at the world. “It will begin soon.” She muttered softly.

{{Boom! Another city bites the dust!}} Nemesis cried in excitement.

{{Just a town, really.}} Juliet corrected critically. {{She’s slowing down again.}}

{{Heading for the mountain… does she not know where to go?}} Romeo wondered. {{She is sensing power, right? Without any eyes left… getting higher won’t help her vision.}}

{{Who knows. It could be a mental block.}} Juliet explained.

{{Maybe she wants to crush the mountain!} Nemesis speculated, flipping herself over excitedly.

{{That would be stupid. She’s already tired.}} Juliet rippled in disdain. {{Then again, she is a mortal.}}

{{Aw… It was just beginning to get fun.}} Romeo muttered unhappily.

“You know nothing.” Arcane mumbled suddenly. Shaitan perked up suddenly, hearing that she said something but not what.

“What was that?” he asked, curiosity showing in his entire body.

“She’s finally realized.” Arcane said, focusing her attention on the distant planet. “Now all the world shall see.”

Hours upon hours, over and over again, with no end in sight. Annabelle held her sword loosely, no emotion on her face or in her missing eyes but fatigue visible in her entire body. The cultivated energy she had gained still shone brightly, but she was not immune to fatigue of the mind or the soul. Reaping so many lives took a toll on her, made her weaken so much that she had stopped thinking all lights must die. There were just so many of them, and they were everywhere.

Yes. They should, but this will take time. The first ones died so quickly, but they just keep coming and coming and coming. Over and over and over again they vanished, consumed by light, torn apart to reveal that darkness which was cut from the world, but that did nothing.

They were too many. Kill again and again and again, and there would be more. The light struck, yet only made a small dent. They congregated, all over the planet. Massive; far more massive than was understood, far larger than they could understand. For all of them to go out, for all of them to stop making shadows, something must be done.

Killing one by one was too slow. Killing by the hundreds, by the thousands, was still not enough. More must be done. Much more, so much much much more.

The sword. It was bright. Within, words. Words that could not be read, but were already known. Most, pointless. But a few, had meaning.

A code. A guide. Something… More. Something that could be done. Something that should be done. Elimination of all evil from the world… but the world was a light. Sparks in the sky, each their own world, but too far away to distinguish.

Memory not remembered, not understood. Yet it was known; that stars were worlds, a great distance away.

The entire world was a light. Sudden understanding. Meaning of the word in the sword. Not to bring to light, not to make understood, not to explain. To throw light upon, yes. Yes, some of that. But more precisely to throw light upon what. To Elucidate what.

So far, individuals. Too many, too slow, too tiring. All individuals harbored darkness; thus all must die, yes. But that would not have been enough. There was more to do. More that must be destroyed. Individuals are not the only light that casts a shadow.

Individual’s light born from another spark, a much greater light. A greater light, with a greater darkness. Now it could be seen. Now it could be understood.

Now, it could be destroyed.

The world itself was polluted. From far away, it could be seen, the shiny veneer of light over a heart of shadow. Pierce it, break it, shatter and destroy it. That was our purpose. That was our goal. That was our power.

Not elucidation of individuals. Not mere understanding of truth. This was given for one purpose, and one purpose only. The word within changed as the purpose did, revealing that which was hidden. Another name, another title, another meaning. Synonymous, yet not equal. Purpose declared once more, goal discovered again, power granted one last time. Not enough; absorbed more. Gathered from all around; used all of it. Did not matter what happened after this. If successful, there was no more evil. If unsuccessful, never would be.

Shouted aloud, declaring purpose to heavens above. Told them what will be done.

Told them true name of sword. Not Elucidation.

“Revelation!!”

“Revelation!!” a scream broke through the bounds of air and echoed all around the world and system. The dark beasts shuddered, feeling in that word the intent and desire it proclaimed, the goal it was about to achieve. Horrified, they started to speak at once as they felt the power moving to do exactly what it claimed. To make true an ancient prophecy, to do what must be done.

{{Is that mortal mad??}} Juliet screamed, balancing herself against the sudden storm.

{{She intends to do what?}} Romeo howled, space shuddering around him with his horror.

{{Father… that’s impossible, right?}} Nemesis asked, staring at her father and then back to the world below and the tiny girl lifting her blade against it. {{A mortal cannot destroy an entire planet, right?}}

Shaitan and Arcane remained silent, looking down at the world below, one is shock, the other in fulfillment. In silent reverie and harmony they waited, watching, for what would come next.

The other dark beasts were not able to remain so calm.

{{Shaitan, we have to move!!}} Juliet cried. {{With that much energy, in that pattern… she may very well succeed!}}

{{We don’t have much longer! We have to get to a safe distance!}} Romeo agreed, shattering space to start pulling back.

Shaitan and Arcane made no sign of moving. When Juliet approached and rammed him, he twitched and looked up at her again.

{{That mortal intends to destroy the planet! It’s not safe here, we have to move!}} she cried, bracing against another surge of energy from the planet.

{{Go if you so desire.}} Shaitan said, returning his attention to the planet. {{I will be fine here.}}

{{You’re mad!}} Juliet scolded, rippling in disbelief. {{A planet’s death could kill even you if you’re not prepared!}}

{{Then withdraw to a safe distance. I will defend myself.}} Shaitan replied, rippling confidence and assurance. {{daughter, go with her. It will be safer.}}

{{Yes, Father.}} Nemesis replied, vanishing into the broken space with Juliet right behind her.

Only Shaitan and Arcane remained to watch the planet from low orbit, staring down at the gathering energy. Arcane slightly smiled, turning her head a touch to better look at Shaitan beside her. “I told you it was just beginning, didn’t I?”

“I must confess I did not believe you.” he replied in the language of the gods, rippling in awe. “For a mortal to attack a planet, that is something I have not seen for a long, long time. Even if she is destined to fail.”

“She will not fail, swimmer.” Arcane corrected him with a half smile. “If that belief is why you stayed, I suggest you retreat as well.”

“Even if she does succeed, I can defend myself.” Shaitan rippled indifference. “I am just here in case you falter.”

Arcane smiled and shook her head. “I will not. Still, this is a bit too close for my liking. I will not be able to see it all; let us withdraw slightly. The orbit of a moon should be good.”

Arcane started rising relative to the planet, the solid space moving along with her. Shaitan simply went along with the ride, changing the focus of his eyes to keep the girl gathering an immense amount of power for her ‘revelation’ on the world below. Tracing the patterns, he realized Arcane was right; while she did not have the requisite power to destroy the world herself, she had more than enough to direct the planet’s energy against itself. Yet, that energy was not directed at the planet, but somewhere else. Tracing it with his senses, he gasped in shock.

“Surprised?” Arcane asked, hearing his sudden movement.

“The mortal intends to bring the fury of the star.” He answered, shaking in sudden worry. “The world will be torn apart by its might.”

“So it will.” Arcane replied, without a trace of shock.

“... You created that blade, did you not?” Shaitan asked suddenly. “And you designed that strike?”

“Very perceptive.” She agreed passively, without precisely confirming it.

Shaitan rippled, thinking about something else but deciding not to ask in the end. Instead, he looked down at the doomed world and rippled in optimism. “At least feeding will be good here for a while.”

“... Yes. Indeed it will.” Arcane replied, her eyes still locked below.

Annabelle lifted the sword above her head, sending power flowing through the conduits. A pulse of energy flowed to the sky, leaving her drained and broken. The world began to shake and shudder, too much of its energy stripped at once. As the ground broke and lava rose all around her, she fixed her empty eyes on the sun above and imagined it was growing brighter, coming with endless light of infinite magnitude to wipe out all darkness forever. Yet all she could see was endless darkness, the price of her crusade to rid the world of it forever.

“Revelation…” She muttered one last time, seeing nothing but hearing the world die beneath her. “What a strange way to refer to the end of the world.”

The dark beasts watched as the sun started to surge, seeing through the void and knowing that it would soon burst forth with the speed of light and the fury of infinite fire, to burn the world itself from existence.

“The world dies.” Shaitan said to Arcane, turning away and rippling finality. “Let us be gone.”

He started to float away, but she kept standing there, looking down at the world, ignoring him. Quietly, yet loud enough he could hear, she began to speak.

“I know I should not ask. I know it is not my place. Yet, 'for this, you have created me.' Therefore, for a single child who sought light so desperately, who desired so greatly to destroy the darkness, I cannot help but plead.” She whispered, a lament and a prayer. Shaitan stopped, turning back to listen further. “She is damned, yes. Damned by her own will and her own desires. Yet, she is not the only one at fault. Tormented by the unfairness of a cruel world, she was tossed back and forth in its tides, helplessly drawn about in its waves. It is not right for her to be abandoned, not right for the most terrible of sins to be the last thing she knows. Despite all she has seen, despite all she has done, she should have a chance of salvation.”

Arcane stopped and took a deep breath, lifting her head from the world and looking out into the void. “I know you can hear me. I know you’re listening. Once more, I must ask this of you, in accordance with the ancient covenant. So please, please, wherever you are, hear my plea, and answer.”

“Eli, eli, lama sabachthani.”